An unforgettable historical novella that leads you to the flowing sand dunes of Rajasthan, the clash of swords, to the courtyard of kings and queens. The book captures the spirit of a heroic past that never fails to move readers even today.

Though A Painter, Abanindranath Tagore Loved Writing For Children. Perhaps That Is Why His Uncle Rabindranath Tagore Had Urged Him To Write. When Abanindranath Finally Did, These Unforgettable Stories Were Born. Now For The First Time In English.

Acknowledgments p. ix Introduction Rosalind C. Morris p. 1 Part 1 Text "Can the Subaltern Speak?" revised edition, from the "History" chapter of Critique of Postcolonial Reason Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak p. 21 Part 2 Contexts and Trajectories Reflections on "Can the Subaltern Speak?": Subaltern Studies After Spivak Partha Chatterjee p. 81 Postcolonial Studies: Now That's History Ritu Birla p. 87 The Ethical Affirmation of Human Rights: Gayatri Spivak's Intervention Drucilla Cornell p. 100 Part 3 Speaking of (Not) Hearing Death and the Subaltern Rajeswari Sunder Rajan p. 117 Between Speaking and Dying: Some Imperatives in the Emergence of the Subaltern in the Context of U.S. Slavery Abdul Janmohamed p. 139 Subalterns at War: First World War Colonial Forces and the Politics of the Imperial War Graves Commission Michèle Barrett p. 156 Part 4 Contemporaneities and Possible Futures: (Not) Speaking and Hearing Biopower and the New International Division of Reproductive Labor Pheng Cheah p. 179 Moving from Subalternity: Indigenous Women in Guatemala and Mexico Jean Franco p. 213 Part 5 In Response In Response: Looking Back, Looking Forward Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak p. 227 Appendix: Can the Subaltern Speak? From Marxism and the Interpretation of History Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak p. 237 Bibliography p. 293 Contributors p. 309 Index p. 313.

The Most Recognized Dog In Indian Myth Is The Dog In The Mahabharata That Accompanied The Pandavas Not Actually A Dog But Dharma In Disguise. There Are, However, Several More References To Dogs In The Classical Texts. Mentioned For The First Time In The Rg Veda, The Eponymous Sarama Is The Dog Of The Gods And The Ancestor Of All Dogs. In Sarama And Her Children, The Evolution Of The Indian Attitude Towards Dogs Is Traced Through The Vedas, Epics, Puranas, Dharmashastras And Niti Shastras. The Widespread Assumption Is That Dogs Have Always Been Looked Down Upon In Hinduism And A Legacy Of That Attitude Persists Even Now. Tracing The Indian Attitude Towards Dogs In A Chronological Fashion, Beginning With The Pre-Vedic Indus Valley Civilization, Bibek Debroy Discovers That The Truth Is More Complicated. Dogs Had A Utilitarian Role In Pre-Vedic And Vedic Times. There Were Herd Dogs, Watchdogs And Hunting Dogs, And Dogs Were Used As Beasts Of Burden. But By The Time Of The Mahabharata, Negative Associations Had Begun To Creep In. Debroy Argues Convincingly That The Change In The Status Of The Dog In India Has To Do With The Progressive Decline Of The Traditional Vedic Gods Indra, Yama And Rudra (Who Were Associated With Dogs), And The Accompanying Elevation Of Vishnu, Associated With An Increase In Brahmana Influence. Debroy Demonstrates That Outside The Mainstream Caste Hindu Influence, As Reflected In Doctrines Associated With Shiva And In Buddhist Jataka Tales, Dogs Did Not Become Outcasts Or Outcastes. Drawing References From High And Low Literature, Folk Tales And Temple Art, Sarama And Her Children Dispels Some Myths And Ensures That The Indian Dog Also Has Its Day.

The Rajput hero has always held a special place in India's cultural landscape. Legend, myth, history and literary imagination combined to present the Rajput as the ultimate embodiment of heroism, honour and chivalry, capable of inspiring the most profound sacrifices among his dependants and clan. History is his source, and imagination and language are his tools to infuse characters with vitality. Each of the stories in Abanindranath Tagore's Rajkahini, dealing with the lives and events of a dynasty of warriors of ancient Mewar of erstwhile Rajputana, is superbly singular. Yet they have a common vein running through them - gripping accounts of Rajput courage and valour. Abanindranath Tagore's lyrical style of narration weaving oral tales and history, has helped characters like Shiladitya, Goha, Bappaditya, Padmini, Chanda and others live a life beyond the pages of history books.

This book presents an analysis of the foundations organised by the Birla family in India. Several generations were involved in the renovation and establishment of sanctuaries, temples and other sacral buildings. As a result, between 1933 and 1998, nineteen Birla Mandirs were established, mainly in northern and central India. All the temples have the capacity to surprise with their various decorative motifs, not seen in other places, which – apart from their aesthetic function – above all bear important symbolic content. Therefore, is it possible to treat the Birla Mandirs as a specific medium – the carrier of a particular message that is not only religious, but with a significance that permeates other layers of social and political discourse. This message, as the authors of the book claim, have a bearing on the socio-political thought of India – supported by the creation and propagation of ideas related to identity and a national art. It also conveys the idea of hierarchical Hindu inclusivism which, although considering all religions as equal, treats Hinduism in a unique way – seeing within it the most perfect form of religion, giving man the opportunity to learn the highest truth. The book also examines whether the temples founded by the Birla family and the religious activities undertaken therein apply the concept of “inventing” tradition, and whether traditions created (or “modernised”) in contemporary times are a way of enhancing the appeal of the message conveyed from temple to society. “The Vastness of Culture” is a series of publications presenting cultural studies and emphasizing the role of comparative research and analyses that reveal similarities, differences and intercultural influences. In our publications, cultures and civilizations are in a state of constant flux, engaging in dialogue, creating new understandings, competing for meaning under the influence of global content, without any clear boundaries, but with a vastness that forces questions to be raised.

The Refugee Woman examines the Partition of 1947 by engaging with the cultural imagination of the ‘refugee woman’ in West Bengal, particularly in three significant texts of the Partition of Bengal—Ritwik Ghatak’s film Meghe Dhaka Tara; and two novels, Jyotirmoyee Devi’s Epar Ganga, Opar Ganga and Sabitri Roy’s Swaralipi. It shows that the figure of the refugee woman, animated by the history of the political left and refugee movements, and shaped by powerful cultural narratives, can contest and reconstitute the very political imagination of ‘woman’ that emerged through the long history of dominant cultural nationalisms. The reading it offers elucidates some of the complexities of nationalist, communal, and communist gender-politics of a key period in post-independence Bengal.